The video: GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is surging in the polls — and attracting the added scrutiny that comes with a higher profile. On Monday night, ABC News investigated the Christian counseling center owned by the Minnesota congresswoman and her husband, Dr. Marcus Bachmann (view clip below). Though the Bachmanns have denied allegations that the center uses faith-based therapy in an effort to convert gay men into heterosexuals, ABC News offered up undercover footage of a counseling session, filmed by gay-advocacy group Truth Wins Out with a hidden camera, that involves the controversial practice (the therapist tells his gay-identifying client, among other things, that God "designed" men's eyes to be attracted to women's breasts).

The reaction: Reports about the Bachmanns "curing" homosexuals at the clinic have been floating around for years, but they "went mainstream" last night, says Maggie Haberman at Politico. While I'm glad this information is getting out there, and the report "raises serious questions about Bachmann as a credible mainstream candidate," says David Zurawik in The Baltimore Sun, "I also have to express some concern about video shot with a hidden camera by someone not working for and bound by the rules of ABC News." The only question is how much ABC paid for this tape, says Rick at Wizbang. This is a "sorry excuse" for journalism, and it just shows that ABC News is anything but objective and unbiased. Watch the ABC News report, below: